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The Interrupters
The Interrupters Image
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Metascore
86 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 24 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 9 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising stories of three Violence Interrupters who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed. Shot over the course of a year, The Interrupters captures a period in Chicago when it became a national symbol for the violence in our cities. During that period, the city was besieged by high-profile incidents, most notably the brutal beating of Derrion Albert, a Chicago High School student, whose death was caught on videotape. (Kartemquin Films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    Sep 15, 2011
    100
    The immediacy and caprice of violence in The Interrupters are just as strong as in nearly every documentary I've seen about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  2. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Andrea Gronvall
    Aug 11, 2011
    100
    When the interrupters do succeed, the results can be riveting.
  3. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: Vadim Rizov
    Jul 28, 2011
    60
    James keeps viewer attention the whole time, despite forcing unnecessarily sentimental music on his footage and chopping his scenes down to dramatic highlights rather than letting them play at length.

See all 24 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. MarcDoyle
    8
    Other than running just a little long, this is a terrific film. It makes me feel good that there are people like these very courageous and compassionate interrupters who literally put their lives on the line to change the violent behaviors of these young kids. So many vicious circles operating at the same time. The kids need jobs to stay out of violence, but the violence keeps businesses out of their neighborhoods. The kids won't have a chance without better schools, but you won't have operating classrooms while the kids are so troubled no matter how much money you pour into their school systems. If these fights are born of a 5 dollar debt, or some kid looking at another the wrong way, we don't have a chance. It's the "converted" - those who have lived that life and have established reputations for crime, experienced institutionalization, and then redemption - that can make the difference, and it just makes me feel good, again, that they're now fighting the "good" fight.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. CitizenCharlie
    5
    The Interrupters is frustrating. The three ‘violence interrupters’ which this film follows must have an endless supply of optimism and an iron will to go out there every day and try and convince people, who mostly are not looking to be convinced, that there are better choices than resorting to violence and revenge. A normal person would give up, probably on the first day, but not the CeaseFire interrupters. Most of CeaseFire’s violence interrupters are ex-cons. This is actually a plus on their job application for a position like this. They know firsthand the consequences and utter futility which comes with choosing the violent option in an argument on the street. Their goal is to intervene in an argument’s ‘front end’ before pistols are drawn from waistbands. Chicago has drawn national attention for the number of murders which happen on its streets every year, especially involving adolescents. The Interrupters follows a year in the life not just of the CeaseFire organization, but specifically three of their most committed mediators. The most engaging and interesting person by far is Ameena Matthews. She is the daughter of Jeff Fort, one of Chicago’s most notorious gangsters, who made mistakes in her youth but is now out in force and ready to get in your face to show you just how wrong a choice violence is. With no fear, Ameena will walk in the middle of a large group of young gangbangers and give them a lecture on just where they are headed. Amazingly, these lectures usually work. You do not want to disappoint Ameena Matthews; she is one of the most persuasive and enigmatic people ever to show up in a documentary. Her fellow mediators are not as engaging as she is though. Cobe Williams is usually an interesting guy to follow, especially when he is trying to calm down a man known as ‘Flamo’. Flamo has a particularly bad day when he first meet him and appears to be 100% ready to charge down the block and start a shooting spree. Cobe listens, nods his head, and then offers to take Flamo out to dinner thereby putting some distance and time between him and his problems. We check in with Flamo every now and then and he provides some segments of comic relief and even some hope. The third mediator is Eddie Bocanegra. He comes in a distant third on this list of three. Most of the time, he is with the family of a deceased young man who made some poor choices and ended up in a coffin. Eddie strikes up a relationship with the boy’s sister and encourages her to draw to deal with her grief. The rest of the time, Eddie leads an art class in a local elementary school to teach the kids who are just a few years away from their prime ages of vulnerability to think through their choices to their logical conclusions. Eddie is never shown actually talking down violent situations like Ameena and Cobe are. He acts as more of a peripheral mediator rather than a down in the mud violence buffer, at least that is how the editing process shows him. The filmmaker, Steve James (Hoop Dreams), checks in with various at risk youth throughout the year. Some start off in very shaky and turbulent places but steadily pull themselves up and out of the gutter. Others, however, leave you shaking your head at the end acknowledging that there will most likely be many more failures for the mediators than successes. Happy endings really do seem few and far between in the streets of Chicago, even when there are extremely persuasive interrupters who guarantee that if you pull the trigger, you will not win in the end.… Expand
    • 0 of 1 users said yes
  3. mattlimes
    2
    Just not that interesting of a movie. A lot of stuff you have seen before - it's ex-gang members talking to current gang members about stopping the violence. Most of the time it doesn't work. The times that it DOES work, it seems like it is often on a 'potential offender' that didn't actually have much potential to offend. For example, the one 'success' story they show is a kid named 'Flamo'. Although he seems quite upset and ready to go shooting when we meet him, you have to remember that this is a kid that voluntarily called CeaseFire (the intervention agency) by his own free will, then suggests that they go for dinner together. Although he is clearly an unsavory character, I don't think he actually had murder in his heart. The concept is interesting, I just don't now if I believe that the Interrupters are that successful. Although I suppose even one life is enough to make it worth while. Nonetheless, it didn't make for an interesting two hour movie unfortunately.… Expand
    • 0 of 1 users said yes

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